On The Eighth Day

My introduction to hippy culture was in a street in Manchester called New Brown Street. I think is was mainly Victorian brick buildings with lots of hippy clothes shops. Strangely you could leave one shop, go into the next and find the same music playing. It was here that I discovered On The Eighth Day.

http://www.eighth-day.co.uk/history.htm

Along that street I bought an Afgan jacket. This was a sleeveless goatskin or sheepskin jacket worn with the fleece on the inside. The skin was mildly embroidered. I also bought a woven/embroidered shoulder bag. The back was plain but the front and the flap were beautifully patterned. These clothes stood me in good stead for a long time. 

I had three greatcoats in five years. One army greatcoat came from Aflecs Palace, the other two probably from second hand shops or charity shops which were a new innovation. I also went to the Army and Navy stores opposite Lewis's in Liverpool. There I bought genuine sailor bellbottom trousers. These sufficed until I bought some genuine loons.

New Brown Street was also on the Soup Run for homeless people. It was demolished to make way for the Arndale Centre and On The Eighth Day moved to Oxford road. OED had become a centre for all sorts of alternative organisations and was a good place to meet to exchange ideas and find out what was happening

I became vegetarian and the guys in Eighth Day helped me find protein rich foods. They taught me how to make Humus - a mix of two liquids Miso (Japanese fermented grain like liquid Marmite) and Tahini (ground sesame seeds) which turned into a stiff spread, great on their home made bread. You could live on it. I think they frowned on Marmite, but I liked it with peanut butter.

I bought large plastic buckets of peanut butter (a gallon? 10kg) and sacks of brown rice. I took the rice back to Salford Union and shared it with friends. New Brown Street was where I bought my first joss sticks. Eighth day was a co-operative and linked to other co-ops around Manchester including 'WhatWork' and a bike co-op.

I nearly always had soup and a roll when I ate there and did try fake coffees of various types, even bought a jar of it, there was even fake hot chocolate called Carob which was almost impossible to get to mix to a smooth drink if you used it at home but did make a passable cake. Actually the cake we made often contained 'dope' because it was easier to manage than having to roll up and smoke. I did once take some to Meth Soc but didn't repeat it as I felt bad about how the guys would feel if they knew. Nobody had more than one piece (except me) so wouldn't have noticed.